For A Convict
by Dejah
Summary: Riddick boards the Hunter-Gratzner as a passenger, not a prisoner. When the Hunter-Gratzner lands safely, Riddick has a whole new life ahead of him. But is it a premonition, or something else? Pitch Black AU. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter One

Riddick crouched in the dark ally, his back to the cold, damp stone wall. His breathing was relaxed, his muscles coiled for the spring. _The merc wouldn't see it coming_, he told himself confidently.

The man had been trailing him for some time now. It was time for the hunting to stop, and for Riddick to end this delicious torture.

William Johns, the Blue Eyed Devil. Billy Bad Ass. Riddick smiled maliciously, his lips pulling back to reveal a feral grin. "Today it ends," he whispered to his prey.

Johns had seen Riddick stroll into the ally. It was no big deal. Riddick walked that way to his hotel room every day. Today Johns prepared to pounce, capture the escaped convict, and make with his bounty.

The _Hunter-Gratzner _was docked at the space station, his and Riddick's fare paid for transport back to Ursa Luna. He'd draw his gauge and offer Riddick two options; dead or alive. Preferably alive. Dead; just as good.

But now Riddick was hunting him. He'd been timing his actions, letting Johns fall into a routine, making it that much easier. He ignored the merc when he spotted him in public, acting like he didn't even notice him.

For a man with his rep, Johns sure was a dumb ass. Any rookie would know Riddick was playing him for a fool. Doing a good job of it, too, by the looks of it.

Another feral grin played on Riddick's lips as he grasped his shiv with his right hand and his wrist with his left, steadying the iron grip.

Footsteps, the smell of human sweat. Steel from the gauge, nickel from the badge. The moment was upon Riddick and he saw Johns' long shadow cross his feet as the man made to round the corner, his gait relaxed. He had no idea.

Johns' footsteps paused just short of the corner that Riddick crouched behind. Something wasn't right and he could smell it.

On silent feet he retreated slightly, sliding his back lower on the wall, grip tightening almost imperceptibly on the handle of his razor sharp shiv.

Another light footstep and Riddick slid towards the corner again. The muscles in his legs twitched and his fingers flexed, shoulders tensing in anticipation of the kill.

Johns' leg appeared around the corner and Riddick launched himself like a giant feline of prey at his hunter. Johns stumbled back under the onslaught, lifting his hands in defense to the lightening quick shiv that sliced for his jugular. He let out a muffled cry of pain as the shiv slid across his palm and forearm as he blocked his throat. He caught a feral grin and his own reflection in the black lenses of Riddick's mirrored shades.

Riddick could see the shock on Johns' face and felt power and pleasure surge through his veins. This was his territory. Clarity came to him as Johns' reacted to the attack and drew the knife attached to his shoulder strap. The tear of velcro reached Riddick's ears and he leapt backwards, brandishing his shiv.

Johns face was impassive as he and Riddick circled each other like caged tigers. Johns held his blade point out and Riddick grinned fiendishly at the mistake, his own held with the sharp edge facing out, pointing back towards his forearm. _You want to slice your enemy, not poke them_, he thought as Johns watched him from narrowed blue eyes.

"You're coming with me, Riddick," Johns stated, trying to regain control of the situation. He received another malicious grin and a lunge from Riddick.

He spun backwards and to the right, the tip of his blade hitting nothing but air. Panic swept over him a mere second before a booted foot slammed into his lower back, knocking him to the ground. His blade slid from his fingers to clatter uselessly to the ground, too far away to help him.

In less than a second he rolled onto his back, grabbing his gauge from where it was strapped to his thigh. Johns pumped the gauge once before it was kicked from his clutching fingers. He rolled to the right and Riddick's booted foot pressed down on his spine.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Riddick reprimanded mockingly, leaning his weight into the slighter man's back. 

Johns tried to reach around and behind, grasping for Riddick's ankle in hopes of toppling him and making his escape, but Riddick's foot fell just beyond his reach.

Johns opted to swing his body hard to the left, hoping to catch Riddick's other foot and knock him down but froze in his efforts when a cold steel blade pressed against the vulnerable flesh at the back of his neck.

"C'mon, you didn't think I wouldn't know you, did you, Johns?" Riddick questioned, kneeling down so both his knee and his foot rested on Johns' back, pressing into his spine. "You're Billy Bad Ass. What happened? Got cocky, I'd reckon."

Johns squirmed when the blade was removed from his exposed neck but stilled once more when Riddick whispered, "There's a vital spot. The sweet spot..."

The tip of Riddick's blade pressed gently against Johns back, a little to the left of his spine. His heart skipped a beat and his breathing halted in his chest.

Riddick felt an odd sensation in his mouth, as if his lips were being pulled back from his teeth of their own accord. He rubbed his mouth with his left hand, still slowly drilling his shiv into Johns' tense back.

__

Odd, he thought then shrugged off the sensation, focusing his attention on matters more interesting.

"You're one brave fuck, Johns," Riddick continued. He watched the material of Johns' vest and shirt tear under the pressure of his shiv and blood collected on the fabric as he slowly pierced the skin beneath.

Johns held deathly still beneath Riddick, hoping against hope that he could get out of this one.

"The sweet spot... just left of the spine, fourth lumbar down. The abdominal aorta... You shove a shiv in there and there's no getting up. No hope... Did you know that, Johns?"

Johns took Riddick's comment for the rhetorical question it was and didn't answer. He didn't blink. A drop of sweat ran down the side of his face to slide along his jaw.

"Billy Bad Ass... The gauge, the badge."

There was a stinging sensation and Johns coughed up a mouthful of blood. Metallic... copperish. He spit it up and heard a dark laugh above and behind him.

The blade in his back twisted and he jerked beneath Riddick's massive weight, still struggling to get away as death loomed ever closer, fogging his vision. A black haze began to cloud around the edges of his eyesight and he choked on another wave of blood. The blade jerked right, cutting into his spine and he lost all feeling.

Doomed, Johns was flipped over to stare blindly at Riddick. His eyes were fogged over and blood covered his mouth and chin. A vicious grin lit Riddick's lean features and he laughed lightly.

"One brave fuck," he repeated and leaned over to wipe the blood from his blade on Johns' pant leg before replacing it in his waist band, out of site. He took the badge from Johns' vest and placed it in his pocket. "Thanks," he laughed.

He turned to go and Johns' last thought was of the shot of morphine he'd injected into his tear duct just seconds before going after Riddick. "Bad tim..." Everything went black. Johns knew, and was, no more.


	2. Chapter Two

Dark. A haven for the evil. Cool air against his skin, a stark contrast to the heat outside. Smell of blood. Johns. A grim smile played on his lips.

Familiar shapes outlined in rays of purple, soft drone of the AC in his ears. Some kid laughing outside.

Riddick felt the tension ease slowly from his muscles and pulled open the tiny ice box. A cold beer sat waiting for him and he pulled it out, wiping the wet glass against his forehead before twisting off the cap.

He rubbed his thumb absently over the condensation on the bottle and headed for the bathroom. He needed a shave, he admitted to himself, rasping a callused hand over the rough stubble on his jaw. _Hair's getting longer than I like. _He frowned and set the beer aside, pulled the shiv from his waist band. He placed it on the sink by his beer and glared at his reflection.

The dark shades hid his gaze from even himself and he whipped them off to toss them to the floor at his feet.

Riddick opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a can of shaving cream. He shook it hard and then released the thick foam into his palm. He slathered it over his scalp first and reached for his shiv. A few smooth pulls of the shiv over his head and he wiped the excess cream from his scalp with a towel.

Nice and smooth. Now a repeat on the jaw. There, now he was presentable. For what, he didn't know. Didn't care. He'd been on this rock to long and it was time to make his disappearance.

What was the name of the transport Johns had booked passage on? _Hunter-Gratzner_.

Riddick gripped the sink hard as an odd flash passed over his eyes. Dim red light filtering down on him. Cold metal around his wrists. Metal in his mouth. He shook his head and glared at his reflection, searching for the meaning of the strange flashes.

It wasn't the first one he'd gotten. He kept seeing it. In the visions he was blindfolded but dim red light filtered through to him anyway. He was behind glass. It felt like a cryo-chamber. Words were printed on the glass but he couldn't make them out.

"Damn it," he muttered and left the bathroom, taking shades, beer and shiv with him.

A single chair decorated the sparse room. Hard bed, four drawer dresser. Ancient holocube bolted to the dresser. A broken phone beside the bed on a ratty table. Burnt out lamp. It was all the same. He never used lights in his rooms anyway.

Sit in the chair as the sun goes down. That was the plan. Riddick pulled the badge from his pocket as he sat, placing his beer on the bedside table beside the phone. The nickel slick badge caught an errant ray of light and he wrapped his fingers around it, blocking the glare.

"Interesting."

#

Morning found Riddick at the _Hunter-Gratzner_, his meager possessions in a duffel over his shoulder. He tapped the badge on his chest with a forefinger as he approached the loading ramp.

"Name?"

Riddick faced the woman, sucking up details for later use. "Johns," he answered automatically and the woman checked her sheet, flipping to the next page on her clipboard.

"Here you are. Chamber eight. Where's your prisoner?"

Riddick shrugged. "Dead. Doesn't have to go back to slam like that. Collected my bounty with local authorities."

The woman nodded. "All right. Listen. There's something wrong with a couple of the chambers. We won't be leaving for another day. Will that be a problem?"

Riddick's face stayed impassive. "No. Except that I gave up my room when I left this morning."

The woman frowned. "Yeah. Most the passengers did. Okay. We can arrange boarding for you until we're ready for take off. That all right?"

"Sure," Riddick answered and followed the blonde into the ship. It was dark and he relaxed, falling into his element.

Who was the woman? Blue pilot's uniform, short blonde hair tied back from her face. She motioned him to stay where he was when they reached an air lock and stepped up to a man in a uniform that matched hers. 

They conversed for a few moments and the man looked at him and then turned back to her, nodding. He headed for the stern and came back a few moments later. He passed something to the woman and she took it, smiling at him.

Riddick caught a "thanks" and the woman came back towards him.

"Here," she said and held her hand out, palm down.

Riddick looked at her suspiciously and she reached out and grabbed his wrist impatiently, dropping a plastic credit token into his open palm. 

"Use this for a hotel room and be here eight hundred standard time Thursday. We leave at nine hundred."

The woman turned to leave but Riddick snatched her wrist. "Who are you?" he questioned.

"Docking pilot. Carolyn Fry. I'll see you Thursday, Johns." She turned and headed back for the air lock and Riddick left, shrugging off the odd sensation of having met her before. Her scent was familiar.

#

Riddick watched the window as light began to filter through the drawn curtains Thursday morning. He rubbed his eyes before slipping on his shades. No sleep for a convict, he told himself as he headed for the bathroom.

Quick shower and he was ready to head for the _Hunter-Gratzner_, belongings packed. He clipped the badge to his shirt and left the hotel room, checking out downstairs. He'd checked in under an alias. Something he'd just made up. Didn't matter. It was the same wherever he went. New place, new name.

The enormous transport filled Riddick's vision as he approached the docking bay at the space station and he saw Carolyn Fry, checking names of the boarding passengers. He approached her silently and when she looked up she jumped slightly. Riddick didn't comment and Carolyn's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You startled me," she stated quietly and flipped to another page on her checklist. He leaned forward to watch her cross Johns' name from the list.

"Ready to board?" she asked and Riddick nodded. Carolyn stepped aside and Riddick brushed past her, heading for his cryo-chamber.

By the time everyone was inside their tubes it was nine hundred hours and the upper and lower doors on Riddick's chamber swung shut. His bag was stowed between his legs and he leaned back against the wall as the gas came up around his feet.

He inhaled sharply and felt the drowsy effect it had on his system. Riddick had never gotten used to the sensation. Cryo-gas was the only thing that put him out, but it wore of quickly. His body thought it was sleeping, but his mind still worked.

When he woke up it was to see everyone around him asleep. He closed his eyes and tried to force his mind to cooperate with the gas. It wouldn't. He'd sleep a good portion of the trip, but there would be plenty of times where he was awake.

He assessed the other passengers in his cabin. Smell of leather, sweat, tools. Woman, prospector type. Another with her scent, but male. Husband probably.

An Arab voice. Some hoodoo holy man. Probably on his way to New Mecca. Other smells, less distinct. Familiar to a million other transports just like this one. A lot of time for him to think. Forty-one weeks until the next stop. He'd glanced at the chamber that would have been his before the doors to his tube closed. Johns had been prepared for him on this ride.

**__**

No Early Release printed on the glass. Odd. The sensation of being chained was on him again and he rubbed his wrists and mouth, shifting in his chamber. Glass coffin.

He was awake, but the gas did make him drowsy. Vulnerable. He slipped into a nightmare sleep, his lips pulled into a frown.


	3. Chapter Three

Chained up. It was a familiar feeling. One Riddick knew well from his years in one slam or another. Like an animal to be peered at from behind cage bars. Laughing guards, trying to look brave for their friends as they stood outside his dingy cell.

They hadn't been laughing when he escaped. When he shot one guard in the chest with his own gauge, shoved his forefinger into another's ear, straight to the brain. The third, a broken neck his reward for bravery. Eighteen seconds later Riddick was traversing Ursa Luna's twisting corridors along the path he'd drawn out for the good doctor.

Now he was in the dim red light again. Same repeated nightmare. The bit in his mouth wasn't any fun. It banged against his teeth and pulled back his lips.

Riddick awoke with a start. It was the last day of the journey. The timer on his tube beeped and the doors swung open. He stepped out, his legs steady and watched the other passengers stumble out. One man, thin, fortyish, small glasses and thinning hair stumbled and fell. Riddick eyed him for a moment before turning back to his chamber.

He bent and picked up his duffel and headed for the air lock. It slid open and he stepped into the next cabin. The rest of their flight would be carried out in actual chairs and Riddick sank into one at the back. He closed his eyes, listening to the voices and footsteps around him. When someone dropped into the seat beside his he jerked around to face the person. It was some young kid. Female, trying to look like a boy.

"You a cop?" the girl questioned enthusiastically. 

Riddick fingered the badge on his chest and then pulled it off, stuffing it into his bag.

"You a boy?" he replied, his voice mocking. The girl flinched and then nodded.

"Of course. What sort of question is that?" she demanded and he grinned at the front she threw up, her defenses firmly in place.

"You're no boy," he laughed and turned away.

"And you're no cop."

Riddick turned back to the kid. "No shit."

"Merc, maybe. You're not toting a prisoner, though. What happened? He get the better of you?" Her voice was mocking. 

Riddick laughed harshly and pulled away his shades to reveal silver eyes. "No. I killed him. Want me to show you how?"

The girl leaned away from him, green eyes wide as she shook her head in the negative. Riddick laughed again. "Didn't think so."

The girl stood up and moved up a few rows. "Cute kid," Riddick murmured to himself and replaced his shades, resting his hand on the handle of his shiv where it protruded from the waistband of his pants.

#

The huge ship landed without mishap and Riddick headed for the off ramp with the rest of the passengers. He headed for the space port bar and nursed a beer, absently peeling the label from the bottle.

"What are you doing here?"

Riddick lifted his eyes from his beer to see Carolyn Fry standing near his stool. He lifted his beer in explanation and took a long swallow. It was warm and flat and he pondered the time he'd spent in the bar, allowing the cold to seep away from the once frosty drink.

Carolyn sat beside him and ordered a beer. She popped the top off on the edge of the counter and took a long draw from the open neck. "Strange," she said finally, breaking the easy silence and Riddick turned to face her, raising a brow.

"Turns out, if we'd left on time, the ship woulda been hit by a rogue comet. The scanners picked it up and logged it as abnormal activity. We would have been forced to land on some planet out there, only twenty-two weeks out."

"Nineteen left," Riddick murmured and called the bartender over to refresh his beer. He pulled off the cap and drank down half the bottle before working on the label. It came off in damp strips and he rolled them between his fingers to drop the little white spheres on the counter top.

"That's right," Carolyn confirmed and took another swallow from her bottle.

"What are you doing here?" Riddick questioned and smiled as Carolyn held up her almost empty beer. "Fair 'nough."

She smiled and finished off her beer. The bartender replaced it and she opened it. Instead of taking a drink she placed it on the counter before her and stared absently at the dark brown bottle.

"Two days earlier," she murmured. "We all could of been dead."

"That's no way to think," Riddick reprimanded and finished his own beer, waving the bartender away when he offered another.

"Doesn't mean I'm not going to think," she answered and Riddick nodded. 

"Didn't say you wouldn't. Too much to worry about, though, if all you think about is 'could of,'" he replied and rolled his beer bottle between his palms.

That feeling of metal around his wrists and in his mouth flooded his senses and he rocked slightly on his stool, narrowing his eyes behind his shades.

When he recovered Carolyn was looking at him, concern on her pretty features. "You all right?" she asked, and placed a hand on his forearm.

He raised his eyes to hers and she pulled her hand away from his skin.

"Fine," he bit out and slipped off his stool, dropping a few creds on the bar counter. He left the bar and Carolyn to gaze at his receding back from her own bar stool.


	4. Chapter Four

Riddick could sense the curious kid. Just his luck, he'd ended up picking the same hotel as her. She stood just outside the entryway to the bar, trying to blend in. For him, she stood out like a red thumb.

He found himself nursing another beer and watched the kid slip into the shadows of the bar, sitting at an empty table in the back. Riddick had noticed she was staying close to the prospector woman and her man. Maybe not traveling together, but companions for now.

He waited for the girl to approach him, taking an occasional sip from his bottle. When the girl finally worked up the nerve to head his way he turned his gaze full on her and she froze in her tracks. A noticeable shudder coursed through her, and he watched with no little sense of amazement as she gathered herself and continued towards him, a cocky little smile on her face.

"Hi," she started, plopping down beside him on the neighboring stool.

The bartender shot her a dark look but Riddick waved him off. The man glowered a few moments longer then turned back to his customers.

Riddick didn't answer the kid, ignoring her instead as he took another drink of his beer. _Still cold_, he congratulated himself.

"So, are you a merc?" she questioned after an awkward silence and Riddick shrugged his reply.

"Maybe. Maybe not. What's it to you, kid?"

The girl frowned. "Just wondering. How'd your eyes get like that? What do I gotta do to get eyes like that?"

"You gotta kill a few people."

"I can do that," she stated boldly and he allowed himself a small smile, half believing her.

"Then you gotta dig up a doctor and pay him twenty menthol cools to do a surgical shine job on your eyeballs."

"So you can see who's coming up behind you in the dark."

"Exactly."

"Cool. I can do that."

"I'm sure you can. But first, why you want to be a boy?" Riddick questioned. 

The girl shrugged. "Just seemed easier. How'd you know?"

Riddick turned to her and let his nostrils flare slightly. "Smell it."

She flushed and turned away from him. Finally getting her courage up again, she faced him. "I'm Jack."

"Jack?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah. You got a problem with that?"

Riddick shook his head. "Nope. Your parents must of had a sense of humor, though."

She frowned. "My real name is Audrey, but I don't let anyone call me that."

"Why not?"

"It's a pansy name. I don't want anyone to think I'm a pansy."

"You don't want anyone to think you're a girl, either." Riddick finished his beer and slid the bottle away. 

The bartender sat another one in front of him and he pressed the cold glass against his face.

"You want people to think you're a cop. Or at least a merc," she countered and Riddick laughed.

"Perceptive little bastard, aren't you?"

She grinned at him and nodded. "Gotta stay alive, don't I?"

Riddick laughed again and shrugged. "Could still show you how I killed that guy," he offered, all show of humor gone from his voice and face as he turned cold eyes on Jack.

Jack shivered and dropped from the stool, scooting away backwards. "Uh, no thanks, mister," she answered and walked rapidly towards the exit.

Riddick smirked and downed his beer in one gulp. _Smart kid_.

A woman walked up to him and sat on the bar beside his stool. "Hi, there," she murmured in a husky voice.

Riddick turned to her and smiled. Perfect. A little beer. A little sex. Then he'd be on his way off this moon, heading for the outer rim.

"I'm Johns," he welcomed and flashed a sexy, wolfish grin.

"I'm Annie. You been here long, Johns?" she purred and leaned forward on the counter, exposing ample cleavage.

Riddick eyed her offer blatantly and grinned even wider. "No. But I sure do appreciate a warm welcome."

Annie answered him with a warm, sensual laugh and laid her small hand on his forearm.

Getting Annie to his room was easy. Getting her to do whatever he wanted was easier.

She turned to him as they entered the room and pulled off her blouse and shoved her skirt down her legs. Her dark hair hung loose around her shoulders and breasts and she cupped the soft flesh, pressing the mounds together.

Riddick grinned and stalked over to her. He tossed her on the bed and she spread her legs wide, beckoning to him with one hand while she rubbed a hard nipple.

Riddick hated easy women. Didn't mean he hadn't had his share. More than his share, he conceded as he kicked off his boots and pulled his shirt off over his head.

He stripped off his pants and she gasped at the size of his erection. He grinned wickedly and stepped to the edge of the bed to grasp her ankles. He pulled her to the edge of the mattress and forced her legs as far apart as they would go with his hands on her thighs.

She arched invitingly and he thrust deep inside of her. She let out a sharp cry of pleasure and wrapped her legs around his hips.

He bucked into her hard and fast and she lifted herself to him. Riddick's fingers dug into her soft hips as he thrust into her. Her release shattered over her and he continued to thrust as she shuddered around him, her muscles clenching and loosening around his sex.

Riddick thrust once, twice, three more times before allowing his own release. He pulled out of her and walked around the bed, sitting away from her.

She rolled over finally and grinned at him and he felt himself readying for more. When he was done with her he ushered out of the room quickly, ignoring her protests.

"Nice knowing you, Annie," he stated. "Thanks for the fuck."

Her face fell and he slammed the door against her, not feeling any remorse for her or any other woman like her. He'd met plenty in his time and he wouldn't allow himself to be attached to one.

It was time he found a way out of there. The outer rim was only a two week trip away. He'd travel to the furthest planet he could find and hole up. Maybe even outrun the law. Maybe even have a life.


	5. Chapter Five

Morning dawned in a new place. A new prison considering he didn't yet have the cash to leave. Riddick took in his new situation impassively, fingering the slick badge in his pocket absently. "Johns," he breathed to the artificial sunrise, eyes narrowed. He cursed and threw the badge into the distance. "Glad I ain't really him," he gritted out and turned away from the badge as it flew through the air, landing in the grassy field.

Twenty standard days had passed since Riddick left the hotel after the landing of the _Hunter-Gratzner_. He'd booked the earliest flight from the hole-in-the-wall stop as soon as possible, heading for the outer rim. It had been way too close to Ursa Luna for his taste. He was still too close to the shipping lanes for his state-of-mind and would be leaving again soon. Riddick just needed the money his temporary job was offering.

This off-the-main-road-space-station was house and home to a different variety of people. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the Mafia. A sort of small Company order, minus the Company part. Working for them threw Riddick in his element and he worked as "money collector."

It wasn't his sort of thing, playing the part of all brawn, no brains. He'd like something a little more challenging for himself, but when you wanted to get away, you took whatever job offered pay. This paid considerably better than most other things he could be doing.

Apparently, nothing got done on the station without the Mafia knowing about it. Riddick hadn't gotten five steps off the transport before he'd been propositioned by a tall, lean man in shades. Riddick could make out the slight bulge under the man's coat where he hid a forty-five in a shoulder holster.

Cut to fit and accommodate a gun, the man had been surprised when Riddick called him on it, then he'd laughed and nodded. "Good man. We could use someone like you working for us."

"I don't need a permanent job. Just enough to get me out of here," Riddick had answered, mentally filing away information on his potential employer. He doubted the man was at the top of the food chain, but he was close judging by the way he held himself.

An intelligent bastard with a keen eye. Predator, probably deadly. No match for Riddick should it come to that, but too many of his kind at one time and getting off the station could be a problem.

The space station was more like a space colony, just on a smaller scale. Biological technology gave it an Earth-like appearance and the presence of trees and grass. All the finer things in life.

Riddick grabbed his extra shiv from the bungalow his new employer had supplied him and headed for work. The other guys had laughed at the relatively tiny blade he carried, but he'd quickly proved its effectiveness on his first job, filleting one man and getting another to cough up the cash he supposedly didn't have. 

It was a win-win situation as far as Riddick was concerned. The guy got away alive, just a few bucks shorter. His boss got paid, and Riddick was two hundred credits closer to moving farther into the outer reaches of space. Farther away from the Company, the law, and anyone else that might not think him fit to live free, or otherwise.

And so it continued. Riddick was three jobs short of the creds he needed, but he wouldn't be telling his employer that. They'd developed a certain fondness for him that made him edgy and he doubted they'd be so willing to let him go.

Staying far away from their operations, he'd still learned too much in his short stint with them to get away unscathed. Not the sort of thing he wanted hanging over his head, especially considering his previously earned wanted status.

"Mike, glad to see you here."

Riddick raised his brows and nodded at Marty. "Marty," he acknowledged quietly as he passed the taller man who'd hired him.

"You ready to bring justice to the fine people of Colony 195?" the other man asked, wrapping an arm amicably around Riddick's broad shoulders.

Riddick looked at the man's hand pointedly and Marty removed it, holding his hands in front of him defensively. "Whoa, watch it there, big guy. I was only funnin'."

"Good for you," Riddick answered and continued on his way through the compound. He got his orders from another source and didn't enjoy the games of the well meaning Marty.

Marty trailed Riddick as he headed towards the center of the compound and reached the head honcho of the whole operation.

"Mr. Styles. How nice of you to join us today. Please, have a seat."

Riddick placed himself in the seat across from Lyle Edwards. The large man sat behind a sleek mahogany desk, his fingers steepled on its glowing surface in the way of so many godfathers Riddick had seen in bad mob flicks.

Edwards leaned over the desk, his cold eyes belying the smile on his weathered face. Riddick didn't respond to the smile as he reclined in the leather chair.

The office had the makings of a fine law firm about it, but Edwards was a law merely unto himself. He proved that every time he sent Riddick out to do his dirty work, not bothering to bloody his own lily white hands. If anything were to go sour, Edwards would have a firm alibi to pull him from trouble, and plenty of men to take the fall for him. Riddick was one of those men, but not after today.

He was collecting from five different people today, and that was going to pay him more money than he needed to get off the station.

As usual, Riddick got the job done. He could be very persuasive when the need arose, and was able to get money back from almost any client. That was only the preferable option, though. If no money was available, Riddick imprinted a deadline into the client's memory. That was more often the case than not. Edwards called it "aggressive negotiations."

Riddick didn't mind. It was a simple living and he was good at it.

Artificial night fell at seventeen hundred hours standard time and Riddick made his short journey to the docking station. His flight left in ten minutes and he wanted to be on the transport and off the space station before any of Edwards' men was the wiser for his actions.

That odd sensation of being bound and gagged flowed through his senses and he staggered, rubbing a rough palm over his lips before continuing on his way, pushing away the memory of dim red light and cold metal against his flesh.

He got to the transport just before take off and was waiting for his name to be cleared when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around and faced the person behind him.

Marty stood staring at him grimly, accompanied by a few other brawny types. He held his firearm loosely by his leg, but Riddick knew he could pull it up and point it at him in less than a second should he try anything funny.

"Imagine finding you here, Mike," Marty stated easily and Riddick eyed the men behind him warily.

"Yeah. Imagine," Riddick answered, raising his hands, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible.

Marty wouldn't underestimate him. Despite his easy demeanor, the man was dangerous and Riddick respected that in an adversary if nothing else.

"Where you headed, Mike?"

Riddick could take Marty. It was the five guys behind him that would make escape difficult. He whirled towards the ship when the man taking names hit the button to shut the hatch.

He growled a curse and watched helplessly as the small transport began to pull away from the dock.

"Now you've gone and made me miss my ride, Marty," Riddick murmured darkly as he turned back towards his antagonist.

Marty's eyes narrowed and he waved Riddick to step away from the dock with his forty-five. "C'mon, Mike. Let's go talk about why you're leavin'," Marty suggested. Riddick heard the note of command beneath the easy words and stayed his ground.

"You don't understand, Marty. I needed to get on that transport. I'll just have to take your creds and buy myself a ticket on a different one."

All emotion left Marty's face and he lifted the gun to point it at Riddick's face. "I'm not playing, Styles. You're leaving with me, now."

Riddick made to agree, stepping towards Marty easily and the man relaxed his grip on the weapon, lowering the barrel slightly. It was the opening Riddick needed. 

He leapt forward and snapped his palms on either side of the gun, twisting Marty's arm and forcing him to release the weapon. Riddick had the gun in Marty's face before the other man could blink.

"I'm leaving with no one but myself, Marty," Riddick growled.

"Let's talk about this-" Marty began but was quickly interrupted.

"Fuck you. Now just step back or I'll blow your fuckin' brains out all over this nice docking station and your little companions."

"You won't get ten feet from here before my men take you out, Styles," Marty scoffed, his gaze steady.

Riddick's hand was steadier. "Maybe not. But I'm taking you with me." Riddick pulled the trigger as comprehension dawned on the other man's face.

Marty's face was blown out the back of his skull and Riddick whipped the gun around to the next man when the sudden flash of dim red light blinded him. He blinked the haze away but not in time to save himself.

The crack of a revolver flooded his ears and his eyes went wide as a bullet thudded into his chest. He had the odd sensation of feeling his heart stop and he lifted his eyes to those of his killer. A malicious smile curved the man's lips and Riddick touched his fingers to the wound just before the world went black.

#

Riddick woke up with a dim red light flashing overhead and the feel of cold metal on his wrists and in his mouth. A black blind fold covered his eyes and he picked up the familiar scent of sweat and leather in his nose. 

The prospector woman. The holy man. Back on the _Hunter-Gratzner_. What the hell?

Realization dawned and Riddick closed his eyes against the dim red glare.

A dream. Everything a dream. True freedom didn't exist for Riddick. Not for a convict.


End file.
